LIVEBLOG: Bust the Budget rallies July 6

Green Left Weekly will be liveblogging the Bust the Budget rallies today. We'll being updating this blog with news, photos and video from rallies all over the country throughout the day.

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Updated 4.20pm. Over on the west coast, the Bust the Budget rally in Perth has begun after having to change location due to bad weather.

Hundreds have braved the rain to hear from speakers in the Murray Street mall.

Photos by Alex Bainbridge and Zebedee Parkes.

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Updated 3.35pm. Estimates of the rally in Melbourne range from 10,000 to 20,000.

Photos: Sarah Hathway

Photo: Tara Nipe

Photo: Michael O'Connor

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Updated 2.40pm. About 200 people gathered for the rally outside parliament in Darwin. There was a strong union presence, with representatives present from the Australian Services Union, Electrical Trades Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and Maritime Workers Union. The rally called for no cuts to welfare, no cuts to Indigenous services, no cuts to community organisations, no cuts to Medicare or education.

Larrakia woman June Mills gave the welcome to country, and referring to Tony Abbott's recent statement, said: "We weren't unsettled then, but we're very unsettled now".

Photos: Emma Murphy

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Updated 2.10pm. An estimated 500 people turned out to the rally in Canberra. People painted placards in front of Parliament House, focusing on refugee rights and opposing the education and health cuts. A giant puppet of Tony Abbott also made an appearance.

Photos: Alexander Brown.

Photo: Mike Kelly

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Updated 1:35pm. Stephanie Pritchard, below left, is protesting the budget in Adelaide because of the rise in university fees and changes to HECS repayments. The proposed changes mean she is reconsidering her decision to study a Bachelor of Arts next year.

Christine Abdullah, below, an Aboriginal elder speaking at the Adelaide protest, said Tony Abbott's comments that Australia was "unsettled" before Europeans came is bullshit. She said: "A treaty is what we need, and we need it now. People power is stronger than any government."

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Updated 1:10pm. A large crowd has gathered outside Sydney's Town Hall. The area around Town Hall is packed and the crowd is spilling out onto George Street. There are large contingents from unions.

Secretary of Unions NSW Mark Lennon is chairing the rally. The crowd listened to a fiery speech from Kerry Rogers, representing the Nurses Union.

Photos: Kathy Fairfax.

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Updated 12:45pm. The rally in Brisbane has marched through the CBD and held a sit-down protest in Queen St.

And in Adelaide, between 4000-5000 people have marched from Victoria square and are now outside Parliament House listening to speakers. The first speaker was Elizabeth Dabars from the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation who spoke about the funding cuts to healthcare.

The second speaker was Nijole Naujokas from the South Australia Anti-Poverty Network who defended the right to welfare and busted the myth of "dole bludgers". She said Tony Abbott's policies demonise the poor and disabled, trivialise mental illness, attack young people and entranch an underclass of people.

Photos by Athanasios Lazarou.

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Updated 12:10pm. The crowd in Brisbane is beginning the march, chanting "Abbott, Jockey! Go to Hell. Take your budget there as well!"

And the crowd is gathering in Canberra where the temperature is 10 degrees.

Updated 11:25am. The first rallies to kick off are Brisbane and Wodonga. It won't be long before a rally gets underway at Parliament House in Canberra.

In Brisbane, a crowd of about 800 people has gathered at Queens Park. Aboriginal activist Sam Watson gave the welcome to country. Other speakers include Robin Taubenfeld from Friends of the Earth and Briscan G20 as well as Peter Simpsons from the Electrical Trades Union.

On the day before the new Senate sits, thousands of people will be rallying across the country to protest the federal government's horror budget and the attacks on Medicare, education, welfare and the environment.

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